1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to barbecue grills and, more particularly, to grills for smoking food items.
2. Description of the Related Art
Food items, such as meat, fish, etc., are commonly smoked by placing the items in a container or smoke box wherein the smoke from smoldering wood, such as hickory, mesquite, etc., is provided. The smoldering wood emits an aromatic smoke which fills the smoke box and which imparts a distinctive smoked flavor to the food items. Such devices typically operate at a relatively low temperature and, in order to ensure complete cooking, for the smoked flavor to deeply penetrate the food items, and develop to a desirable flavor intensity, the wood is allowed to smolder for prolonged periods of time, i.e. several hours. The food items are thus continuously surrounded, flavored and cooked by the smoke and heat created by the wood.
Many prior art devices for smoking food items, known as smokers, exist which typically include a smoker chamber for containing the food items and a firebox which communicates with the interior of the smoker chamber. The firebox is configured for containing smoldering wood and is adapted to provide a suitable amount of smoke to the interior of the smoker chamber for smoking the food items. Heretofore, it has been commonplace to provide an exhaust or smokestack at a location along the smoker chamber that is interior of one of its end walls, such as on an upper surface of the smoker chamber, that promotes a flow of smoke from the firebox, through the interior of the smoker chamber, and upwardly through the smokestack. Thus, the smokestack cooperates with the firebox to provide an air flow (and its accompanying smoke) within the smoker that tends to surround the food items that are placed within the smoker chamber between the firebox and the smokestack.
However, for food items placed within the smoker chamber at locations on the opposite side of the smokestack from the firebox, smoking of these food items can be more difficult, i.e. more time consuming, as those locations within the smoker chamber tend to coincide with a relatively cool location within the smoker chamber. This cool location or "cold zone" typically is created by the air flow pattern within the smoker chamber that tends to flow across the interior of the smoker chamber from the firebox and then upwardly into the smokestack without flowing to the end wall of the smoker chamber. Thus, in a typical prior art smoker, approximately six to eight inches extending inwardly from the end wall along the length of the smoker chamber is particularly undesirable for use. This cold zone also may tend to maintain a less dense smoke, on average, than other locations within the smoker chamber.
Additionally, the placement of the smokestack on the upper surface of the smoker chamber typically has resulted in an inability to increase the size of the opening of the smoker chamber, through which the food items are placed into the smoker interior, because the door utilized to cover the opening is designed so as not to impinge the smokestack. This configuration, however, oftentimes results in an opening of the smoker chamber which is capable of receiving a smaller food item than would normally fit within the interior of the smoker chamber if a larger opening were provided.
Therefore, there is a need for smoker grills which address these and other shortcomings of the prior art.